Brighter Horizons
by Daladakea
Summary: Sequel to Trials and Adventures. Silver is dead and Scroop is still on the loose. Jim is thirsting for revenge. What happens when he gets an opportunity to go on a mission and get it? Mr. Hawkins is still unsure who to help.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n Someone suggested developing my OC's a little more, so I'm looking for some suggestions. **

**I want some advice and ideas for the story. Lots of 'em. I'm only updating if I get good ideas.**

**And this is the sequel to Trials and Adventures, and I killed Silve r in that one. So give me advice. Do you want him to stay dead? Do you want him to pop up out of nowhere with a story of how he survived yet again? Where should I fit in Morph and Sarah? And what, oh what do I **

**do for development of OC's? I will not be writing romances for Jim, so kindly save those ideas for someone who will. Thanks!**

As the longboat pulled into the Spaceport, Jim looked up. His face was still streaked with tears and he was still crying. Silver's body was still warm. He was still clinging to old Cyborg.

Jim saw his friends and Doctor Doppler, Amelia and his mother. But he couldn't even look at them.

"Jim, what's the matter?" Doctor Doppler was asking. Jim couldn't do more than just put his head

back on Silver's still warm chest and weep, wishing he could hear the strong, sturdy heartbeat that was no longer there. And would never be there again. Jim slipped into a dream like state.

He saw and heard everything, but no longer comprehended anything. Silver had only died five minutes ago after all. Amelia pulled him up and Kyle, Mike, Matt, Sasha and Saundra followed them.

All the while they tried to ask him how the mission went, where Scroop was, how was Silver dead,

and why on Montressor had he decided to run away with nobody with him anyway? Matt

was the only one not asking questions. He just kept his arm around Jim and walked with him until they got to the inn. Jim went up to his room. Matt was the only one allowed to follow.

"Jim, I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" Jim shook his head. Matt stayed with Jim until

he could talk enough to say that he was fine on his own. Matt left. Jim lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He wanted to cry more, but he didn't feel it. He felt nothing but a dull ache. He fell asleep and dreamed of Silver.

Jim woke and dressed for the Academy. His Junior year was to start and soon, he'd go with a Senior for their maiden voyage.

A boy called Mark had chosen him to go. Jim wondered how much longer he had to wait. He

wanted to find a way to prove himself worthy and ready enough to graduate a year early.

And he wanted to kill Scroop. Badly. His thirst for revenge was greater than his thirst for a

captaincy had ever been. As he was thinking this, Mark came up.

"Hey." Mark greeted. "Hey." Jim replied. "What's up Jim?" "Nothing much."

"You snuck out and got Scroop away huh?" "Sort of." Actually, Jim had no idea why Scroop left.\

Scroop had clearly planned to kill him. Jim didn't have much memory of what happened anymore.

He remembered how wonderful it had been to see Silver alive after he'd thought he was dead for a year.

But he also remembered how awful it was as Silver slumped dead to the deck. Just thinking about it brought tears to his eyes. Mark noticed it. "What's wrong Jim?" He asked.

Jim wiped a stray tear away and tried to keep his voice steady. " A friend of mine tried to rescue me,

and Scroop killed him." "I'm so sorry Jim." "Hey, I'm doing just fine." Jim said.

"Is that so?" Jim nodded by way of reply. Mark considered this for a moment, then obviously wanting

to change the subject, he said, " You know, when we go out on our mission, we can choose it.

We can choose an exploration mission, a diplomacy mission or, if there are any wanted criminals to catch, an attack mission." This grabbed Jim's attention. A semi murderous look crept into his forlorn eyes. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" He asked. Mark nodded.

"Jim, let's get him." He replied.


	2. AN

Ok, so when I said I had the whole summer to update, I wasn't counting on my mom suddenly deciding that

I needed to be "fed intellectually". She signed me up for Russian and Japanese language camp three days before

I had to leave for it. So I won't have access to anything English for two months. Aside from not updating for that length

of time, I will probably make far more grammar mistakes when I get back, since almost every kid that's ever gone

has come back getting confused and switching to the new language from English. (Mom is already laughing at the possible mistakes. In a

good way though.) Sorry for leaving everyone hanging. Maybe when I get back, I'll have enough ideas and reviews from readers to know what everyone wants to see! Have a good summer everyone!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

"Attention!" The professor who was also an admiral said as he entered the room.

Everyone stood, unmoving until he told them to take their seats. "As you know, the notorious

pirate, Scroop is still on the loose and we don't know where he is. Mark Cordon and Jim Hawkins, for their maiden voyage, will be doing an attack mission to either bring Scroop back, or to kill him on the spot, depending upon the situation they find themselves in. We salute their bravery in bringing this tyranny to an end. Please, give them a hand and then stand and salute while the anthem is played."

Jim and Mark were standing on the stage with the other Seniors, Juniors and Sophomores that were going on maiden missions. When the ceromony was over, the others headed out on their missions.

Mark and Jim stayed behind, since theirs was the only attack mission, they needed to plan ahead.

"What did you think of being the center of attention Jim?" "I think it's overrated and far overdone."

"Same here. So how do you want to catch this guy?" "I'm not sure Mark. The last time I tried to catch him..." Jim trailed off as he again saw Silver slump dead before him. "Jim, last time, you didn't have a plan. This time, we will. And we. Won't. Fail. Because if there's one that's certain, Scroop's going down. Ok?" Mark put an arm around Jim. "Ok." He replied.

On a ship far away, using spy cams, Scroop was enjoying the pain he was making Jim live with.

And planning against the boy with the boy's plans. "And you thought you could get away with

just watching him die? Believe me, you will suffer from his death, and when you heal from it,

you'll be the next one to die." Scroop chuckled in an evil way to himself.

Mr. Hawkins walked in. "You want to kill him don't you?" He said to Scroop.

"Don't you?" "No. He's my biological son. And I don't mind making him suffer emotional or psychological pain for your enjoyment, since you are paying me well for it, but I won't attempt to kill my own flesh and blood. Not for all the riches in the world. You'll have to do that on your own.

Promise me this Scroop, when you kill him, you'll make it painless. If you won't, I'll leave or you can kill me, but I won't assist you in any way if you will hurt him very much physically."

"Very well. Your request is granted." Or maybe not. Knowing Scroop, Mr. Hawkins knew his employer was likely to hurt Jim very much before finally killing him. But he continued to assist Scroop for the

time being.

"Silver." Jim murmered in his sleep. Matt turned over o look at Jim. He felt his heart jerk at the

very thought of the agony his friend was in. "We need to try to cheer you up a little Jim."

He said to himself. When his mom died, Matt just wanted everyone to leave him alone. But sometimes, he felt so alone, because he'd chased everyone away that he wished they'd suprise him.

Kyle turned over. "That's what I've been thinking Matt. We all got together and decidded that we can give him and Mike a send off party for their mission." "Good idea Kyle."

They stayed up half the night planning. The other half was spent talking with Jim, since he woke up and became very upset about Silver's death all over again.

"I just don't know why I could have had one more moment to look at him. Just one more moment to speak with him." Jim was saying. Matt was listening politely. The others left the room as soon as the sun rose. They wanted to help Jim, but right now, they knew they couldn't do much.

Matt was always far more helpful in situations that required a lot of listening and hugging and soft words. So while Matt and Jim were talking, they slipped out and found the girls.

"How is Jim?" Sasha asked. Kyle shrugged. "As well as can be expected. What about plans for the

party?" "Everything's on track." Saundra replied. The window above them was open and they could hear Jim weeping. He'd probably given up talking again. "Is he going to be alright?"

Saundra asked. "Matt says he is." Kyle replied. "Jim, do you need something to drink?"

They heard Matt ask gently. Jim must have said no because the lights flicked off.

**A/N I am home now and writing again, but I'll be leaving to Chicago soon to meet with a neuroscientist to see how my brain works, becaue a few things are different and strange, but in a good way. Hope you like the update! Pretty Please with Morph on top review and provided some suggestions for the plot and thanks to those who have already reviewed. Someone put my story in their favs and I was like, "Oh my gosh! Somebody loves my story!" Keep revs coming please!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jim woke as soon as the sun rose. As he opened his eyes and his nightmare of Silver's death faded,

he saw Matt sleeping in the adjacent to his. He'd kept poor Matt awake most of the night, and he regretted it. He vaguely noted that Kyle and Mike where nowhere to be found and then focused on dragging himself up for breakfast. As he dressed in his off day clothes. A light blue T-shirt and

some old light blue jeans. Matt woke in time to catch Jim coming out of the bathroom from brushing his teeth. "Hey, Jim. What are you going to do today?" He asked. Jim stopped and thought for

a minute. "I'm going to find Silver's grave today. I need to pay my last respects."

Matt looked a little like he knew something that Jim didn't. "Jim, it's an unmarked one. How will

you know it's his?" "I'll ask someone if they remember where he was buried. If nobody knows,

I'll look at the dated graves and find the one for his execution. I have to find his grave.

It's all I have left to hold on to." Matt had tears in his eyes as he nodded. He'd felt the same way when his mother died. He'd visited her grave everyday for months after her death. He knew Jim was likely

to do the same. "Do you want me to go with you Jim?" "If you want. But I'd rather go on my own."

As Matt nodded sympathetically a second time, Ji turned and walked out quickly.

He could feel his own tears starting to spill over again, and while Matt knew what he was going through and didn't mind helping him out sometimes, he would rather not be weeping on him like a child all the time. Jim didn't see as he left the room, but Matt wiped off a stray tear and sniffled.

When Jim had gone, Matt looked up and said, "What do you think Mom? Will he make it?"

He knew she was gone and couldn't hear, and he'd accepted that long ago, but it was comforting to imagine that she could hear and would wrap her caring arms around him sometimes.

Matt smiled through his tears and walked off to breakfast.

**A/N Ok so it's not a long chapter. But I tried ok? I need reviews and suggestions because I am totally running out of ideas.**

**Now I am thinking of making this a trilogy, but what do my readers think? Please with Morph and B.E.N. on top review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**A/N Hey everyone who reads this. Until I get more ideas(suggestions please?)**

**I'm going to be really stuck for what to do. So after this chapter, I won't update until I have at least 20 reviews with ideas for the story. I ave some ideas so I'll keep writing, but I won't post until I know more about what my readers think. So, if you really want to see where this **

**story is going to go, better start reviewing!:) Hugs to all who have reviewed this story and my **

**previous story Trials and Adventures. By the way if you haven't read that one, then this story won't make much sense. Bye!**

Jim walked through the visitor's center at the police station. Why they had it, he didn't know. Nobody ever usually cared for the dead criminals buried there. So it goes without saying that officer gave him a

strange look when he requested entry to the burial ground for criminals. Even though Silver hadn't really been executed, he was still marked as a criminal on official police records.

"Boy, who are you looking for?" The kind officer asked tenderly. "John Silver."

Jim got out. "He's not buried here, boy. I don't know where has buried. But for reasons unknown,

he was officially pardoned his crimes shortly after his execution so maybe he'll be in a family grave."

Jim shook his head. "He didn't have any family left officer."_ Just me. _He added silently.

The officer pitied the boy. Whoever was unfortunate enough to be friends with a hung criminal

was in for a terrible time trying to find the place of burial. "Hey, boy. I hope you find him."

The officer said. He hesitated, then slowly hugged Jim and then let go.

"I'll tell you what though, the stone that marked the day of his execution is right over here

if you want to pay your respects." The officer gestured to the stone.

Jim didn't say anything. He was far too close to tears. He smiled gratefully and walked to where the

man pointed. Jim knelt by the stone and started crying and talking.

"Silver, I know you aren't buried here. But this is the best I can do. I'm sorry that you had to die.

I won't ever be happy again. Matt says it gets easier, but I don't see how it can.

I miss you Sil-" He paused a second and then figured that nobody but the addressed would hear him anyway. And even then, it wouldn't bring Silver back. "I miss you Dad." He then crumpled to the ground weeping hard.

Over at the gate the officer was watching all that had happened and had heard the boy loud and clear.

_I hope they figure out the solution soon_. He thought. He waited until Jim had left to make a quick call.

Hours later, the others were getting the party set for Jim and Mark. As they'd be leaving in a few days for a nearby system that Scroop was said to be in, Jim's friends rushed the deadline.

They only wished that they could've done better. Knowing Jim, they knew he'd come back

safely, but just in case, the party was their way of saying goodbye well enough to last forever if it came to that. As Kyle strung up streamers, Mike blew up and hung balloons. The girls were arranging the cake and well wishing letters on the table. It was to be a party with the friends as the only guests,

but they wanted everyone to say goodbye. So they had them write short letters to the boys.

Matt was nowhere to be found. "Wonder where Matt's been going so much recently."

Kyle asked. "Maybe just helping Dad. Father is really busy with holding up the house, shop and store." Mike said. "Does he tell you where he goes Mike?" Sasha asked. Mike shook his head.

"Sometimes I don't see him in any of those places and he isn't hanging out with Dad or his friends, so I don't really know." Saundra looked like she had a sudden idea. "Maybe he has a girlfriend!"

She squealed excitedly. Mike just laughed. "Nope. You should read less romance novels Saundra.

My brother isn't going to get a girlfriend for a long while. He hates the very idea of romance."

"If you are speaking about me, I highly agree. I can't stand romance." Jim said from behind them.

"How did you know to come here?! We were going to suprise you." Mike said.

"It's been all over town. Plus, come on. Streamers and cake and all that good show? And the fact you set it up in my home so that I couldn't have missed it from a mile away."

"Ok, ok. So it was more obvious than we wanted it to be, but hey, it worked right?"

Mike said. "Yeah." Jim agreed. "And speaking of which, we were talking about how much Matt's

been disappearing lately. Have you seen where he's been going?" Sasha asked.

"No, I wasn't even aware anything strange was happening." Jim replied.

"Huh. Well, if we find out while you and Mark are taking out Scroop, we'll let you know."

Jim nodded. "What's say we di in to this good looking cake now huh?" Jim asked.

They all had themselves a merry little party. Matt showed up right in the middle of it.

"Matt! Where on Montressor have you been?" Kyle said. Matt simply smiled and said,

"Not for you to know my friend. Not for you to know." When they finished their party, Mark and Jim

packed their bags and turned in for the night.

**Well, that's it people. If you really want to know what happens next, then start reviewing!**

**No worries. I'll keep writing this as I want it to be and when I get some suggestions,**

**I'll work them in where I see fit. But remember, no more updates until I get twenty reviews **

**on this story. As this is the sequel to Trials and Adventures, I highly suggest reading that first and **

**then reading this. Leave some reviews on that too for how it could be better and you might see those things changed when I do the rewrite of these stories.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**a/n ok. Still no new reviews. This is a more enticing chapter I hope. Maybe this will get more reviews. Again, looking for suggestions. Well see what you think!**

Jim woke in time to see the sun rising over the ship docks outside the Inn. As he moved to get up,

an extra weight stopped him. He looked down and nearly jumped in suprise. Silver's jacket lay over him with a piece of paper on top of it. _But that's impossible! Silver's gone, buried in a place that I can't find! What happened? _Jim thought to himself. He was happy for the gift, whoever had found it and brought it up, but he was a little upset because he still really missed Silver.

_Scroop's going to pay._ He thought. Tears were falling so fast now that he wouldn't be able to read

the note. As soon as he could staunch their flow enough to see again, he opened the note.

_Dear Jim,_

_Hang on boy. Hang in there.._

Jim didn't recognize the handwriting. Someone knew how much pain he was in.

Someone sent in the jacket, which still smelled like Silver. But why? And who?

Blinking away the last of the tears, Jim got up and readied himself for the launch.

When he met up with Mark at the launch complex, Mark noticed that all Jim's

friends were there to see their friend off. But not Matt. _Where has Matt been lately?_

Mark thought to himself. Maybe Matt had something extremely important to do.

More important than this? Uh huh. No family emergencies, no fixing problems for friends, not schoolwork, uh nope. Nothing more than this. Jim had the same idea apparently.

"Hey Jim, Matt called ahead and said he couldn't make it. He said to apologize for him.

Sorry man." Kyle said. Kyle was nice, but if any of the rest of them hadn't been able to make it here, Matt would've been able to break the news better. Still they had tried. All of them knew

that Jim might not come back. So why on Montressor didn't Matt seem to know it?

That just wasn't like Matt, and Jim knew something else was afoot. "Oh, Jim, a piece

of information on Matt for you," Mike said, "He said something about getting extra help for you guys

on the fly, but that he wasn't sure it would work. Maybe that's why he isn't here, he's rounding up

your rescue party!" Mike's attempt at humor wasn't lost on Jim, but he still wished Matt were here.

With no more time to lose they readied the ship for launch.

The launch went completely flawlessly and Jim waved to his friends. Just as the ship left

viewing distance of his friends, he saw a small figure run up and wave frantically. He waved back.

Matt knew he might still miss the launch but after his hard work in preparing Jim's backup

He felt he should still say goodbye, even though Jim probably didn't understand why he'd been away so much recently. He ran quickly through the streets and arrived, out of breath, just in time to see

Jim's ship disappearing from view. He waved frantically, hoping Jim would see and wave back. He did.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**A/N Okay, I can't follow through with my threat of not writing and posting because I love doing it. So maybe one day, someone will come along and make a few suggestions and I'll put it all in a remake. For now though, I guess I trapped myself. I love writing!**

"Jim, is that his ship?" Mark asked. Jim nodded. They wordlessly began their plan.

As soon as the small crew docked the ship underneath the bigger one, Mark and Jim

boarded and snuck around to gather intelligence. What they didn't know was that Scroop knew that they were there. He bade his time as he knew they would leave shortly.

He told his crew that two strangers would be seen roaming about the ship, and that they wee not to do

anything out of the ordinary. Mark and Jim soon disembarked. "So when he decides that we are here and launches his attack, we can send our crew aboard and nab him and his crew. We let Scroop think he has the element of suprise. We should just cruise around for a few days. Maybe he'll think we don't know it's him. Then he'll swoop in for the kill and then we get him." Mark said.

Jim preferred that he make the plans since this was his revenge, but since Mark was the Captain and it was his mission, Jim did nothing to oppose his friend's plan.

After waiting around for a few days, Jim got restless. Here they were in plain sight of Scroop's

ship and showing themselves all the time on deck and still he did nothing. They knew it had to

be his ship because it had his egotistical image painted large and shamelessly on the side.

So why? Why was he not coming in at them? Was he waiting for them to come to him? Probably.

And he knew they'd have to eventually. He left them no choice. Spacer regulations

stated that should an armed Interstellar craft come into shooting and/or boarding distance

of a belligerent party, they were to board and take prisoners or shoot depending on the situation.

Mark and Jim had thought they'd have the advantage, by taking information about the vessel

and then when attacked, board and conquer. But now, Scroop seemed to know their plan and the rules they were held to and had played his hand wisely, for now, they must board his ship

at his disgression. He left them no other option and he was very aware of it.

In this way, he now held the advantage. Jim went to Mark about all this. "Jim, I hate to disturb you further, but look at this." He held out a camera. Jim looked back at him, his face turned ashen and cold as stone. "He knows." He said in a voice full of contempt. "Everything." Mark confirmed grimly.

'What do we do now?" "Take the crew and go get him. Tell everyone onboard to get armed."

Jim did as he was told. As soon as they boarded, they were clearly going to lose.

Scroop had his men waiting. Mr. Hawkins acted as indifferent to his son as he had the first time,

but something in his face had changed. Jim didn't know what it was, but he knew something was up,

and he couldn't tell if it would be for better or worse.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

**A/N Okay, I can't follow through with my threat of not writing and posting because I love doing it. So maybe one day, someone will come along and make a few suggestions and I'll put it all in a remake. For now though, I guess I trapped myself. I love writing!**

"Jim, is that his ship?" Mark asked. Jim nodded. They wordlessly began their plan.

As soon as the small crew docked the ship underneath the bigger one, Mark and Jim

boarded and snuck around to gather intelligence. What they didn't know was that Scroop knew that they were there. He bade his time as he knew they would leave shortly.

He told his crew that two strangers would be seen roaming about the ship, and that they wee not to do

anything out of the ordinary. Mark and Jim soon disembarked. "So when he decides that we are here and launches his attack, we can send our crew aboard and nab him and his crew. We let Scroop think he has the element of suprise. We should just cruise around for a few days. Maybe he'll think we don't know it's him. Then he'll swoop in for the kill and then we get him." Mark said.

Jim preferred that he make the plans since this was his revenge, but since Mark was the Captain and it was his mission, Jim did nothing to oppose his friend's plan.

After waiting around for a few days, Jim got restless. Here they were in plain sight of Scroop's

ship and showing themselves all the time on deck and still he did nothing. They knew it had to

be his ship because it had his egotistical image painted large and shamelessly on the side.

So why? Why was he not coming in at them? Was he waiting for them to come to him? Probably.

And he knew they'd have to eventually. He left them no choice. Spacer regulations

stated that should an armed Interstellar craft come into shooting and/or boarding distance

of a belligerent party, they were to board and take prisoners or shoot depending on the situation.

Mark and Jim had thought they'd have the advantage, by taking information about the vessel

and then when attacked, board and conquer. But now, Scroop seemed to know their plan and the rules they were held to and had played his hand wisely, for now, they must board his ship

at his disgression. He left them no other option and he was very aware of it.

In this way, he now held the advantage. Jim went to Mark about all this. "Jim, I hate to disturb you further, but look at this." He held out a camera. Jim looked back at him, his face turned ashen and cold as stone. "He knows." He said in a voice full of contempt. "Everything." Mark confirmed grimly.

'What do we do now?" "Take the crew and go get him. Tell everyone onboard to get armed."

Jim did as he was told. As soon as they boarded, they were clearly going to lose.

Scroop had his men waiting. Mr. Hawkins acted as indifferent to his son as he had the first time,

but something in his face had changed. Jim didn't know what it was, but he knew something was up,

and he couldn't tell if it would be for better or worse. Just as they raised their guns, shots rang out above their heads. Scroop showed himself on the mast. He aimed straight at them.

"All of you, back to your ship and get away from here in 2 minutes or I'll kill you all.

James, you will stay here and Mark you too." They tried to charge but Scroop fired just to their left.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you. Next time, I won't misssss."

One of their crew members turned to Mark. "Permission Captain Corden, to desert," wink wink "the mission?" She asked. Mark nodded his consent. He and Jim dropped their weapons and put their hands

up as the rest of the crew filed out. "Seize them." Scroop ordered sounding bored.

The boys put no fight up as the men cuffed them and took them below deck. Mark was taken down

a different corridor than Jim. Mark was taken to the Brig, but Jim was locked into Scroop's

small cabin. He was left to himself(or so he thought) and allowed himself time to think.

He still hadn't properly grieved Silver's death. He'd been holding the pain back so as not to wear out

his friends to the point of annoyance, but now with nobody there, he felt he could grieve completely

openly. He drifted to a vision of everything related to Silver. He saw them arguing and playing on the Legacy during the Voyage. He saw Silver in the cell and helping him recover from his surfer accident

last year. Tears of nostalgia and loss started down his cheeks. He didn't force them in or out. He just let it happen. He watched a tear slide down Silver's face as he hugged Jim in the Rehab room on the last day before the trial. He saw Silver and heard his voice gently comforting him right before the

jury made their decision. He heard Silver sobbing quietly in the minutes before they parted for the execution. He was sobbing so hard now that it felt like his body was being torn apart. He saw Silver being stabbed and killed by Scroop just after Jim had discovered that he was still alive.

He felt Silver hugging him both on the Legacy and again when they both had thought Silver would be executed. Then he realized, someone _was _hugging him! He looked up and saw the last person he expected to see.

**A/N Oh boy! Who is hugging Jim? Is it his father?Silver? Mark? Scroop?**

**Hold on to your, well, whatever your holding onto and prepare to be amazed!**

**And remember to tell me what you think and to leave suggestions!**


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